The Canucks continue their winning ways, putting together a complete game performance to dismantle the Preds 5-2. The Canucks, seemingly adjusted to the time difference and out of the matinee slot, brought their A-game to push their record to 6-0-1 in their last 7. Here are your highlights:
The Preds came into the game as one of the league’s hottest teams, going 13-3 in their last 16 games, while Soros had only surrendered 5 goals in his last 4 games and had won his last 7. That did not matter. The Canucks looked comfortable and in control, leading the whole way thanks to two quick strikes in the first period 31 seconds apart: a great Petey snipe down the right wing, and a lucky bounce/right place goal from Aman for his first of the year. Hoglander, Blueger, and Suter rounded out the scoring for the boys, adding that needed punch down the lineup on a night when JTM and Boeser were held off the scoresheet. DeSmith was also exceptional on the night, starting his second game within the last three, having secured points for the boys in 8 of his 10 starts. Things seem to be going pretty, pretty, pretty well for the Canucks right now. Tocchet was happy, which is always a plus:
“I’m really proud of the guys,” he said. “I was watching, and sometimes we get out of position, but not very often. I just like the way they played defense. They’re protecting the middle. If we’ve got to give a shot, they give an outside shot. I think that’s really what I like about this team is whether they enjoy it or buy into it, they just love the way we defend the puck. And against this team here, they have a lot of offense. They can go. And I think we really defended them well tonight.”
Petey was happy with how things shook out as well, saying “I think it was a good, solid 60 minutes from us. We talked about our starts, and I think we came out strong. We defended well and DeSmith was good in net again. Overall, all players contributed and played well.”
Can’t argue with that.
One storyline heading into and coming out of the game is the different direction of two Canucks forwards. Kuzmenko was a healthy scratch for his third time this season, setting him up to land on trade boards all season. Tocchet seems not to worry as much as the rest of the fans:
“Just trying to win a game tonight,” he said at the morning skate. “I felt this was the best lineup for tonight.”
The other side of the equation is Hoglander, who’s pestering, forechecking, getting-to-the-dirty-areas annoyance is getting rewarded and earning points for the team.
“He’ll very rarely sit in a corner and will scoot to an area” said Tocchet. “He’s tough to defend, that little guy. When he gets to those levels — underneath sticks for deflections and rebound goals where he has beat someone to the net — those are goals he can really get for us.”
The time spent in the AHL is really paying off, and we can hope it does the same for Podkolzin when he comes back up.
One other interesting note to put in here is this piece of an Athletic article from Shayna Goldman, about which NHL teams lead or trail in games the most, and the Canucks rank at the top of the pile:
Which teams are the best at coming back in games or holding leads? What about the worst? Let’s take a closer look at how teams around the league have performed by score state.
While all minutes in a game are important when thinking about comeback ability or an inability to hold a lead, it’s best to focus on five-on-five play. There are too many variables to consider in all-situations time, and power-play opportunities (or short-handed time) can skew things.
[…]
Vancouver’s place here isn’t surprising considering it spends the most time leading in games at about 47 percent. The Canucks’ shot and scoring chance generation in those minutes isn’t eye-catching, but they have the results — the team scores at a pace of 2.96 goals per 60 which ranks sixth in the league. Is shooting 12.4 percent sustainable in those minutes? That’s the big question, so it would help Vancouver to pick up the pace offensively to keep this dominance on the scoresheet up.
But it’s not just offense that allows Vancouver to hold leads; the Canucks don’t allow too many shots against while ahead in games. And most importantly, their X-factor in net, Thatcher Demko, doesn’t let much trickle past him. The team concedes a league-low 1.61 goals per 60 against while up in games, which is a key reason why they’ve maintained the leads they’ve built and had such a solid start to the season.
Link to the article HERE if you’re interested, and if you want a month trial of the Athletic let me know and I can get a few of you those.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»